No Threat Was Found, Investigation Pending
The video game community held its collective breath today after reports that Ubisoft Montréal was evacuated today. Initial reports said that there was a hostage situation in the building. All the official information repeated in this article is being sourced exclusively from Ubisoft Montréal and SPVM (Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal). Statements from Montréal police can confirm that they were responding to a “hostage taking”, but thankfully after a perimeter sweep, found no threat and no injuries to report. Ubisoft Montréal also said that the situation was “resolved without incident”.
No one is exactly sure what went down. Many believe that the building was “swatted”, which is when a false threat is reported in attempts to make police respond in force. However, the response to a typical “swatting” conflicts with the SPVM’s statement that they were responding to a hostage threat. We could go on and on about what exactly we think happened, but we would prefer not to clutter up the story with speculations; just report the facts and statements of the parties. The office was evacuated and the police cleared the building after it was secured.
Earlier this evening, Ubisoft Montréal tweeted a message, in both French and English, “We want to salute the courage and composure our teams showed today, our focus remains on ensuring their health and wellbeing. We would also like to thank the SPVM for their quick and professional response, helping to bring the situation under control. We are extremely relieved this was resolved without incident and we’d like to thank you all for your support and kind words.”